


Reunion

by lilac_and_gold



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 10:25:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17620703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilac_and_gold/pseuds/lilac_and_gold
Summary: A glimpse of our heroines many years after the events that brought them together ...





	Reunion

Despite Ruby’s attempts to force it to fly faster through sheer willpower, their aircraft had landed in Vale a half hour later than scheduled. Then there had been an interminable taxi ride across the city, followed by a frustrating wait in the hospital’s lobby while someone located a wheelchair for Weiss. But they had finally made it to the patient tower, and the instant the elevator doors opened on the third floor, Ruby raced down the hall, pushing the wheelchair ahead of her and ignoring Weiss’s protestations that she was going run someone over in her haste.

At last, they reached the room the information desk attendant had given them. Ruby hesitated when they found the door closed.

“We should ask someone if we can go in,” Weiss said.

“You may,” came a voice from behind them. They turned to see a nurse standing there, smiling gently. “She’s been sleeping most of the day, but she was awake a few minutes ago when I checked on her.”

Weiss insisted on getting out of the wheelchair, so they walked in together, Weiss supporting herself with her cane.

The patient within was lying with her back to the door, but at the sight of the long silver hair and the dark cat’s ears poking up through it, Ruby’s heart finally ceased trying to beat out of her chest.

“Blake?” she whispered.

“I’m awake – I could hear you two through the door.” Their friend’s voice was soft, but the dry tone was all Blake.

Ruby didn’t move, momentarily overcome by emotion, so Weiss pushed past her to the other side of the bed.

“Blake, it’s so good to see you,” the older woman said, taking hold of one of Blake’s hands. “When we got your message, we came as quickly as we could.”

Ruby moved two chairs to the side of the bed and fussed at Weiss until she got her comfortably settled in one of them. Then she leaned over the bed and wrapped her arms around her friend. “I love you, Blake,” she said as tears blurred her vision.

“I’m glad you’re both here,” Blake said softly. “The doctors tell me I don’t have much longer.”

Ruby felt as though someone had taken hold of her heart and was squeezing it. It was very hard to breathe.

“Oh Blake …" she began.

“Please don’t feel sorry for me. I’m in no pain, and as amazing as my life has been, I’ve grown weary of it these last few years without Yang,” their friend said quietly.

Tears flooded Ruby’s eyes again as she thought of her sister.

“You’ll be together again soon, Blake,” Weiss said softly.

Blake closed her eyes. “After we were reunited at Haven, I promised her I’d never leave her again. And I kept that promise for fifty years.”

Ruby blotted away tears. “I never knew two people who loved each other as much as you and Yang.”

Her eyes still closed, Blake whispered, “I’ve missed her so much.”

Blake didn’t open her eyes again, and it was soon clear that she’d fallen asleep. Ruby kissed her gently on the forehead, then she and Weiss crept out of the room.

“One of us should stay with her until …" Weiss said, words failing her.

“You rest, Weiss. You’re tired, and I know your leg has to be bothering you,” Ruby said. “We passed a waiting area on the way in. I’ll text you when I get sleepy or if anything changes with Blake.”

Weiss nodded, then made her way down the hall. Ruby watched her struggle with the cane, knowing how much Weiss hated having to rely on it to get around. They weren’t young any more, and as Yang’s unexpected illness and death a decade ago had made so terribly clear, even they couldn’t escape their mortality forever.

 _And now Blake is leaving us_ , Ruby thought sadly. She took a deep breath and went back in to sit beside her friend.

\-----

The following afternoon, Ruby was dozing in the waiting area when her scroll vibrated in her pocket. Her heart stopped when she saw Weiss’s message: COME BACK NOW

Ruby hadn’t used her semblance in years, but she did so now, flying through the halls, scattering rose petals in her wake. She threw open the door to Blake’s room and found Weiss standing over her, holding her hand with tears streaming down her cheeks.

“She’s barely breathing, Ruby,” Weiss sobbed.

Ruby blinked back tears, then reached out and stroked Blake’s beautiful silver hair. “We love you, Blake,” she whispered.

Blake sighed then was still.

Weiss staggered, but Ruby caught her and helped her to a chair. Turning back to Blake, Ruby saw that she had something clenched in the hand that Weiss hadn’t been holding. She carefully unfolded Blake’s fingers to see what it was. The tears began again when she recognized that old photograph of the four of them from their first week at Beacon – and a frayed and faded patch with a yellow, stylized burning heart on it.

\-----

Blake awoke refreshed, feeling better than she had in … well, longer than she could remember. The cloudless sky overhead was the clearest blue she had ever seen, and the air was warm and smelled sweet, as after a summer rain. She stood and stretched, brushing a few blades of grass from her dark hair. She secured Gambol Shroud in its familiar place at her back, then started walking.

The terrain here consisted of low grassy hills, but their slopes were so gentle that her journey felt effortless. As she walked, she felt a growing sense of anticipation, as though her destination was not far off. After a time, she reached a hill much taller than the others. Its base was broad, and its slope was steeper than those across which she’d come. She began making her way upwards, and in a few minutes – or perhaps a few hours: it was difficult for Blake to judge – she reached the crest of the hill. Ahead of her she saw a narrow footbridge that crossed a wide stream, and some distance beyond was a line of trees.

Blake knew with certainty that she was very near now – she just had to reach the trees.

She started across the bridge, but as she reached the middle of its span, she paused for a moment. For the first time that morning, she turned to look behind her. Far off in the distance, down the large hill and beyond the other smaller hills of her journey, she saw a single gray building. Despite the distance, through one of its windows she could see her two oldest friends holding hands beside an empty bed, their faces filled with grief.

“I love you both,” said Blake. It seemed to her then that their grief was lessened somewhat, and so she turned once more to face the line of trees and continued her walk across the bridge. Just as she set foot on the far side of the stream, her heart leapt with joy:

For a tall, golden haired woman had emerged from the trees and had begun walking, then running toward her, her lilac eyes shining and her smile as bright as the sun itself.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a little story that reflected some of the best themes of RWBY: friendship, loyalty, and love. I hope you enjoyed it!


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